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Gab . GABBER or GABBLE, talk; “gift of the GAB,” loquacity, or natural talent for speech-making.—_Anglo-Norman_; GAB is also found in the _Danish_ and _Old Norse_.
Gaby . a simpleton, a country bumpkin. Probably from gape.
Gad . a trapesing slatternly woman.—_Gipsy._ _Anglo-Saxon_, GÆDELING.
Gadding the hoof . going without shoes. GADDING, roaming about, although used in an old translation of the Bible, is now only heard amongst the lower orders.
Gaff . a penny play-house, in which talking is not permitted on the stage. _See_ PENNY GAFF.
Gaffer . a master, or employer; term used by “navvies,” and general in Lancashire and North of England. Early English for an old man. _See_ “BLOW THE GAFF.”
Gaffing . tossing halfpence, or counters.—_North_, where it means tossing up three halfpennies. One man tosses, and another calls. Sometimes the coins are tossed from a stick, and the tosser keeps those which fall heads uppermost.
Gag . a lie; “a GAG he told to the beak.”—_Thieves’ Cant._
Gag . language introduced by an actor into his part. In certain pieces this is allowed by custom, and these are called GAG-PIECES. _The Critic, or a Tragedy Rehearsed_, is chief among these. Many actors, however, take French leave in this respect with most pieces.—_Theatrical slang._
Gag . to hoax, “take a rise” out of one; to “cod.”
Gage . a small quantity of anything; as “a GAGE of tobacco,” meaning a pipeful; “a GAGE of gin,” a glassful. GAGE was, in the last century, a chamber utensil.
Galeny . old cant term for a fowl of any kind; now a respectable word in the West of England, signifying a Guinea fowl.—_Vide_ Grose. _Latin_, GALLINA.
Gallanty show . an exhibition in which black figures are shown on a white sheet to accompanying dialogue. Generally given at night by “Punch and Judy” men.
Gallimaufry . a kind of stew, made up of scraps of various kinds. Sea term, and probably meaning the galley scraps.
Gallipot . an apothecary.
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